1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



551 



Bartlett, of Chelmsford, is Chairman of this 

 committee, and aided by his intelligent associ- 

 ates, they will undoubtedly present a lucid and 

 practical outline of business. 



We hope, now that the Board is about relin- 

 quishing its charge of the farm, that it will 

 devote a chapter in its next volume of Transac- 

 tions to a full account of the experiments and 

 improvements which have been conducted under 

 its control. We are confident that in each of 

 these, more has been done, and more important 

 results have been obtained, than our people are 

 aware of; it is due to the Board, that its labors 

 may be appreciated, and the people desire it, that 

 they may profit by the example given them. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CAUSE AND CUKE OP THE POTATO ROT. 



Mr. Editor : — I have read with much inter- 

 est the articles which have lately appeared in the 

 Farmer on the above-named subject — one copied 

 from the Scientific American, one from Mr. 

 Reed, the patentee, and another from the veter- 

 an Ml". Proctor, the sceptic ! My interest 



in the tv70 first articles was increased, from the 

 fact that they spoke with a confidence character- 

 istic of an "assurance doubly sure." Can we even 

 suspect that it is not the true theory, when so 

 much science, time and labor have been devoted 

 to it, and that we shall not hereafter be able to 

 raise a plenty of sound potatoes, whether we pur- 

 chase Mr. Reed's patent right, or adopt Mr. 

 Henderson's gratuitous method of sprinkling the 

 seed with quicklime, or of planting deep ? And 

 in this connection I cannot but observe, that Mr. 

 Reed can have but little faith in Mr. Henderson's 

 remedy, else he would not be so unwise as to 

 patent his own remedy when no further means 

 of prevention were needed; or that the public 

 would purchase his right unless they thought it 

 the sole preventive. And do not these gentle- 

 men differ in regard to the identity of the depre- 

 dating insect ? I find mentioned the '^ Aphis 

 Vastafor," the ^'Phytocoris Linealaris," the '-C'a- 

 pris Obliniatus," and the ^'Alphis." Are these 

 identical, all having "brilliant black eyes ?" 



For the last few years the potato has rotted bad- 

 ly, but not because there were no published rem- 

 edies. Each last new antidote has been regard- 

 ed, by its pi'omulgator, as the certain one ; but 

 before he can justly appreciate his great discov- 

 ery, there comes the conviction that it is futile, 

 and his "blushing honors" immediately vanish. 

 Let us not be 



'•Unskilled to judge the future by the past," 

 but require actual demonstration, for a series of 

 years (if not falsified before,) of any new theory 

 in relation to the cause and remedy of the pota- 

 to rot. 



In relatio-j ^.o the Messrs. Henderson and Reed's 

 new insect tneory, I am reminded that "Honest 

 doubt is the beacon of the wise." Neverthe- 

 less, every man, who is not already convinced of 

 its falsity, is under obligation to test it. There 

 are many diseases incident to the human system, 

 for which we have no actual remedy, but merely 



palliatives ; and even they, in many cases, can 

 hardly be called such. The Asiatic cholera, fe- 

 vers, &c., are some of them. AVe may never 

 know the cause or remedy of this potato dis- 

 ease, yet it may in time mysteriously disappear. 



It would seem from the article from the Scien- 

 tific American, that one remedy for the evil is to 

 plant deep, thereby preventing light and air from 

 coming to the delicate eggs, though the growth of 

 the tuber requires air. If such is the case, I can- 

 not see how the rot reaches the new tubers lying 

 deep in the hill, and as frequently leaving those 

 sound near the surface — which fact I have par- 

 ticularly noticed since reading the above-named 

 articles. If the deepest planted are aff"ected, how 

 much more should the surface ones sufi"er ! The 

 application of quicklime to the seed is another 

 published remedy of Mr. Henderson, with a view 

 of killing the eggs. (How would scalding water 

 do ?) I have not tried pure caustic lime as yet, 

 but I always sprir.kle air-slaked lime, in a some- 

 what imperfect or lumpy condition, on my seed- 

 ling tubers, and it seems to give no protection. 



It is genei'ally believed that on upland new 

 soils, with but little manure, the potato enjoys 

 the greatest immunity from the rot ; but if the 

 embryo insect is adhering to the seedling tuber, 

 and feeds upon it and its products, when it be- 

 comes developed, why cannot he make as sad 

 havoc in this position as in any other ? The po- 

 tato disease, it is well known, is some years more 

 virulent than in others, also varying in diiferent 

 sections of the country — which is perfectly in 

 hai-monj'' with the atmospheric theory. But can 

 it be so on the insect hypothesis ? Sometimes, 

 also, very early varieties escape ; and the very 

 late-growing are only injured. Can the cause of 

 this be made clear on the insect presumption? 

 Again, if the potato is the food upon which these 

 bugs feed, what can we think of that instinct 

 which leads them to poison and destroy it ? 



Why do peaches and plums rot early in great 

 quantities on the trees ? Is this caused by an in- 

 sect, or by the peculiar state of the atmosphere 

 acting upon objects of easy decomposition ? VVhat 

 causes vegetable decay in general ? And if in- 

 sects of some kind are found, by the aid of the 

 microscope, in all incipient decomposition, does 

 it prove they cause it ? 



Some time last winter or spring, Mr. Sheldon, 

 of Wilmington, Ms., (a very zealous and Morthy 

 farmer,) published a communication in this pa- 

 per, and also in the Boston Cultivator, claiming 

 the State award of $10,000, on the conviction 

 that he had discovered the remedy for the pota- 

 to disease, in keeping the tubers intended for 

 the next planting from the light and air. This 

 may be a remedy ; but I have seen no allusions 

 made to it from any other source. If Mr. Shel- 

 don can raise round potatoes without the use of 

 lime or deep planting, or without purchasing Mr. 

 Reed's patent antidote, he is a fortunate man- 

 much more, probably, than the rest of mankind 

 with them all ! 



I think, also, a gentleman of Essex Co., during 

 the past summer, has stated in the New EngJciid 

 Farmer, that an oyster shell placed within the 

 hill is a preventive of the rot ! This gentleman 

 probably cherishes but very little respect for 

 the entomological speculation of Messrs. Hen- 

 derson and Reed, or of the underground remedy 



